William Wernecke Jr.

CEDARBURG - William Wernecke Jr., 68, of Cedarburg, Wisconsin passed away suddenly on February 27, 2024. Born May 10, 1955 to William and Sue (née Sayer) Wernecke Sr., he considered himself extremely fortunate to spend most of his life in Cedarburg with small detours in California (Stanford University) and Illinois (Northwestern University). He led the Class of 1973 speeches at Cedarburg High School, returning last year to speak at their 50-year-reunion. He loved all reunions. He was married to Susan Graham Wernecke, whom he met at Stanford, for 45 years. While he achieved great success in his professional life, he always loved his wife and four children, Ellen (Dan Mortenson), Claire (Ben McKinley), Max (Karina) and Chloe best. In the past decade he transformed his experience in helping run the family business (Cedarburg Lumber) into helping other small business owners, families and people make smart decisions at Pegasus Partners. He also worked at The Onion in Chicago, conferring upon him the status of “cool dad” to many of his children’s friends and friends’ children, and served with distinction on the University School of Milwaukee Board of Trustees. Curious, thoughtful, often tangential, he kept up with his many, many friends through emails, text messages and phone calls, and rare was the Cedarburg outing where he did not stop to talk to a friend or acquaintance along the way. He continually sought new ways to help people, in the office, on the greens or at home, and leaves behind a Notes app full of gift ideas, future trips and names of courses to play. His passion for golf led him to connect with players across the country, often hosting them to play at Milwaukee Country Club. He will be remembered forever by his wife and children; his father, William Wernecke Sr.; his brother and sister, Clark (Melissa Grzybowski) and Patricia Juranitch (Robert); his two grandchildren, Magnus and Minerva, and a world of family, friends, colleagues and neighbors, all of whom he saw as people he wanted to help. A celebration of his life will be held in the summer of 2024. To RSVP, please reach out by email to werneckememorial@gmail.com. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his memory to Youth on Course, youthoncourse. org, or another program promoting youth sports or fitness.